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Despite the extra capacity and flexibility built in as part of changes in 2011/12, increasing demands mean many of the zones are near to 100 per cent capacity, with more permits issued than parking spaces available in three of the zones.

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Is residents' parking in Reading inadequate?

0+ VOTES SO FAR

Councillor Tony Jones, chair of the scrutiny task and finish group, said: “Parking permits first came to Reading in the mid-1970s to allow residents to park in streets that would otherwise have been occupied by shoppers or commuters.

"The rationale of the scheme remains the same, but the town has changed massively over 40 years.

"Reading is a major destination for employment and shopping. Set alongside the explosion in car ownership, the number of houses converted into flats and an increasing population, the impact on limited parking spaces is clear.

“As parking pressures grow so does demand for the introduction of residents' parking schemes, which has spread from central Reading to other parts of the town.

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"The job of the scrutiny panel is to consider whether the current permit scheme remains the right one for Reading, and to look at how councils coping with similar parking pressures operate permit schemes, and how enforcement and administration costs are covered.

“Key to this process will be feedback from residents who experience parking pressures on a daily basis, and the frustration of not always being able to park near their homes.

What would you like to be done about the residents' parking in Reading? Let us know in the comments section below.

"I would ask them to contact me directly with comments on the current scheme, what works well and what they would like to see change.”

Residents can email scrutiny chair Cllr Jones on tony.jones@reading.gov.uk with their feedback until Sunday, August 14. All evidence and feedback will be considered by the scrutiny task and finish group before the findings and recommendations are considered by a meeting of the council’s traffic management sub committee in November.